Infrared focal plane array heat spreaders

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, an infrared (IR) sensor module includes an IR sensor assembly, including a substrate, a microbolometer array disposed on an upper surface of the substrate; and a cap disposed on the upper surface of the substrate and hermetically enclosing the microbolometer array. A base is disposed below the substrate, and a heat spreader having a generally planar portion is interposed between a lower surface of the substrate and an upper surface of the base. In some embodiments, the heat spreader can include a material having an anisotropic thermal conductivity, e.g., graphite.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Patent ApplicationNo. PCT/US2013/077696 filed Dec. 24, 2013 and entitled “INFRARED FOCALPLANE ARRAY HEAT SPREADERS” which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2013/077696 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/748,024 filed Dec.31, 2012 and entitled “INFRARED FOCAL PLANE ARRAY HEAT SPREADERS” whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2013/077696 is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/101,245filed Dec. 9, 2013 and entitled “LOW POWER AND SMALL FORM FACTORINFRARED IMAGING” which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/101,245 filed Dec. 9, 2013 and entitled “LOW POWER AND SMALLFORM FACTOR INFRARED IMAGING” which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/101,245 is a continuation ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041744 filed Jun. 8,2012 and entitled “LOW POWER AND SMALL FORM FACTOR INFRARED IMAGING”which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041744 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/656,889 filed Jun.7, 2012 and entitled “LOW POWER AND SMALL FORM FACTOR INFRARED IMAGING”which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041744 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/545,056 filed Oct.7, 2011 and entitled “NON-UNIFORMITY CORRECTION TECHNIQUES FOR INFRAREDIMAGING DEVICES” which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041744 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,873 filed Jun.10, 2011 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA PACKAGING SYSTEMS AND METHODS”which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041744 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,879 filed Jun.10, 2011 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES” which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041744 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,888 filed Jun.10, 2011 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES” which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2013/077696 is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/099,818filed Dec. 6, 2013 and entitled “NON-UNIFORMITY CORRECTION TECHNIQUESFOR INFRARED IMAGING DEVICES” which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/099,818 filed Dec. 6, 2013 and entitled “NON-UNIFORMITYCORRECTION TECHNIQUES FOR INFRARED IMAGING DEVICES” which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/099,818 is a continuation ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041749 filed Jun. 8,2012 and entitled “NON-UNIFORMITY CORRECTION TECHNIQUES FOR INFRAREDIMAGING DEVICES” which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041749 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/545,056 filed Oct.7, 2011 and entitled “NON-UNIFORMITY CORRECTION TECHNIQUES FOR INFRAREDIMAGING DEVICES” which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041749 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,873 filed Jun.10, 2011 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA PACKAGING SYSTEMS AND METHODS”which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041749 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,879 filed Jun.10, 2011 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES” which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041749 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,888 filed Jun.10, 2011 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES” which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2013/077696 is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/101,258filed Dec. 9, 2013 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES”which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/101,258 filed Dec. 9, 2013 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERASYSTEM ARCHITECTURES” which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/101,258 is a continuation ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041739 filed Jun. 8,2012 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES” which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041739 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,873 filed Jun.10, 2011 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA PACKAGING SYSTEMS AND METHODS”which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041739 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,879 filed Jun.10, 2011 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES” which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/041739 claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,888 filed Jun.10, 2011 and entitled “INFRARED CAMERA CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES” which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2013/077696 is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/138,058filed Dec. 21, 2013 and entitled “COMPACT MULTI-SPECTRUM IMAGING WITHFUSION” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/138,058 filed Dec. 21, 2013 and entitled “COMPACTMULTI-SPECTRUM IMAGING WITH FUSION” which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/138,058 claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/748,018 filed Dec. 31, 2012 andentitled “COMPACT MULTI-SPECTRUM IMAGING WITH FUSION” which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2013/077696 is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/138,040filed Dec. 21, 2013 and entitled “TIME SPACED INFRARED IMAGEENHANCEMENT” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/138,040 filed Dec. 21, 2013 and entitled “TIME SPACEDINFRARED IMAGE ENHANCEMENT” which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/138,040 claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/792,582 filed Mar. 15, 2013 andentitled “TIME SPACED INFRARED IMAGE ENHANCEMENT” which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/138,040 also claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/746,069 filed Dec. 26, 2012and entitled “TIME SPACED INFRARED IMAGE ENHANCEMENT” which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2013/077696 is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/138,052filed Dec. 21, 2013 and entitled “INFRARED IMAGING ENHANCEMENT WITHFUSION” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/138,052 filed Dec. 21, 2013 and entitled “INFRARED IMAGINGENHANCEMENT WITH FUSION” which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/138,052 claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/793,952 filed Mar. 15, 2013 andentitled “INFRARED IMAGING ENHANCEMENT WITH FUSION” which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/138,052 also claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/746,074 filed Dec. 26, 2012and entitled “INFRARED IMAGING ENHANCEMENT WITH FUSION” which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

One or more embodiments of the invention relate generally to thermalimaging devices, and more particularly, for example, to heat spreadersfor uncooled infrared (IR) focal plane array (FPA) imaging devices thatimprove device imaging performance.

BACKGROUND

Uncooled microbolometer arrays are extremely sensitive to changes in FPAsubstrate temperature. For example, in a typical microbolometer IRcamera, a change in the substrate temperature of 0.0025° C. correspondsto about a 0.1° C. apparent change in the scene temperature.Accordingly, significant design effort goes into calibrating out theaverage change in substrate temperature that can occur during normaloperation, due either to device self-heating or to changes in theenvironment. Compensation for the average change in substratetemperature may be achieved through bias and/or offset correctioncircuitry implemented in the FPA, and/or through a software algorithmthat compensates each pixel's output as a function of FPA temperature asdetected by a precision temperature sensor onboard the FPA. However, inmany cases, heating of the FPA substrate is not uniform. Thisnon-uniformity in heating cannot be compensated for by a singletemperature sensor, with the result that additional fixed pattern noisecan occur in the image. Additionally, the traditional method of using ashutter to compensate for fixed pattern noise is not available in somedevices. While some scene-based non-uniformity compensation (SBNUC)techniques do a satisfactory job of removing high spatial frequencynon-uniformity, they do not work well in cases of low spatial frequencynon-uniformity, as might well be encountered if the FPA substratetemperature gradient changes.

Accordingly, a need exists for mechanisms that can reduce thermalgradients in IR FPAs which cause image non-uniformity and result innon-scene related changes in device output levels.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, novel heatspreaders for IR FPAs and IR camera modules incorporating them areprovided, together with methods for making and using them, which reducethermal gradients in the FPAs that cause image non-uniformity and resultin non-scene related changes in device output levels

In one example embodiment, an infrared (IR) sensor module comprises anIR sensor assembly, including a substrate, a microbolometer arraydisposed on an upper surface of the substrate; and a cap disposed on theupper surface of the substrate and hermetically enclosing themicrobolometer array. A base is disposed below the substrate, and a heatspreader having a generally planar portion is interposed between a lowersurface of the substrate and an upper surface of the base. In someembodiments, the heat spreader can comprise a material having ananisotropic thermal conductivity, for example, graphite.

In another example embodiment, a method for reducing fixed pattern noise(FPN) in an infrared (IR) sensor module during its operation comprisesproviding a generally planar heat spreader having an in-plane thermalconductivity that is greater than a thermal conductivity of the heatspreader in a direction perpendicular thereto, and interposing the heatspreader between a lower surface of a substrate of the sensor module andan upper surface of a base of the sensor module.

The scope of the invention is defined by the claims, which areincorporated into this section by reference. A more completeunderstanding of embodiments of the invention will be afforded to thoseskilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantagesthereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of oneor more embodiments. Reference will be made to the appended sheets ofdrawings that will first be described briefly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an infrared imaging module configured to beimplemented in a host device in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an assembled infrared imaging module in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded view of an infrared imaging modulejuxtaposed over a socket in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an infrared sensor assemblyincluding an array of infrared sensors in accordance with an embodimentof the disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of various operations to determinenon-uniformity correction (NUC) terms in accordance with an embodimentof the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates differences between neighboring pixels in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flat field correction technique in accordance withan embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates various image processing techniques of FIG. 5 andother operations applied in an image processing pipeline in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a temporal noise reduction process in accordance withan embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates particular implementation details of severalprocesses of the image processing pipeline of FIG. 8 in accordance withan embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates spatially correlated fixed pattern noise (FPN) in aneighborhood of pixels in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of another implementation of aninfrared sensor assembly including an array of infrared sensors and alow-dropout regulator in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates a circuit diagram of a portion of the infraredsensor assembly of FIG. 12 in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional elevation view of an example embodiment ofan infrared imaging module incorporating a thermal spreader between asubstrate of the imaging module and a base of the module in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of an area located between a lower surface of thesubstrate of FIG. 14 and an upper surface of the base of the imagingmodule thereof, showing the locations of temperature test sensors formeasuring temperature gradients in the substrate in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 16A is a graph of the respective temperatures, in degrees Kelvin (°K), of selected points in the substrate at different times during arelatively short initial period of operation of the infrared imagingmodule, without using a heat spreader between the substrate and thebase, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 16B is a graph of the respective temperatures, in degrees Kelvin (°K), of selected points in the substrate at different times during anextended period of operation of the infrared imaging module, withoutusing a heat spreader between the substrate and the base, in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 17A is a graph of the respective temperatures, in degrees Kelvin (°K), of selected points in the substrate at different times during ashort initial period of operation of the infrared imaging module, usinga copper heat spreader between the substrate and the base, in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 17B is a graph of the respective temperatures, in degrees Kelvin (°K), of selected points in the area at different times during an extendedperiod of operation of the infrared imaging module, using a copper heatspreader between the substrate and the base, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 18A is a graph of the respective temperatures, in degrees Kelvin (°K), of selected points in the area at different times during arelatively short initial period of operation of the infrared imagingmodule, using a graphite heat spreader between the substrate and thebase, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 18B is a graph of the respective temperatures, in degrees Kelvin (°K), of selected points in the area at different times during an extendedperiod of operation of the infrared imaging module, using a graphiteheat spreader between the substrate and the base, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of another example embodiment of aninfrared imaging module incorporating a thermal spreader between asubstrate of the imaging module and a base of the module in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

Embodiments of the invention and their advantages are best understood byreferring to the detailed description that follows. It should beappreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify likeelements illustrated in one or more of the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an infrared imaging module 100 (e.g., an infraredcamera or an infrared imaging device) configured to be implemented in ahost device 102 in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.Infrared imaging module 100 may be implemented, for one or moreembodiments, with a small form factor and in accordance with wafer levelpackaging techniques or other packaging techniques.

In one embodiment, infrared imaging module 100 may be configured to beimplemented in a small portable host device 102, such as a mobiletelephone, a tablet computing device, a laptop computing device, apersonal digital assistant, a visible light camera, a music player, orany other appropriate mobile device. In this regard, infrared imagingmodule 100 may be used to provide infrared imaging features to hostdevice 102. For example, infrared imaging module 100 may be configuredto capture, process, and/or otherwise manage infrared images and providesuch infrared images to host device 102 for use in any desired fashion(e.g., for further processing, to store in memory, to display, to use byvarious applications running on host device 102, to export to otherdevices, or other uses).

In various embodiments, infrared imaging module 100 may be configured tooperate at low voltage levels and over a wide temperature range. Forexample, in one embodiment, infrared imaging module 100 may operateusing a power supply of approximately 2.4 volts, 2.5 volts, 2.8 volts,or lower voltages, and operate over a temperature range of approximately−20 degrees C. to approximately +60 degrees C. (e.g., providing asuitable dynamic range and performance over an environmental temperaturerange of approximately 80 degrees C.). In one embodiment, by operatinginfrared imaging module 100 at low voltage levels, infrared imagingmodule 100 may experience reduced amounts of self heating in comparisonwith other types of infrared imaging devices. As a result, infraredimaging module 100 may be operated with reduced measures to compensatefor such self heating.

As shown in FIG. 1, host device 102 may include a socket 104, a shutter105, motion sensors 194, a processor 195, a memory 196, a display 197,and/or other components 198. Socket 104 may be configured to receiveinfrared imaging module 100 as identified by arrow 101. In this regard,FIG. 2 illustrates infrared imaging module 100 assembled in socket 104in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

Motion sensors 194 may be implemented by one or more accelerometers,gyroscopes, or other appropriate devices that may be used to detectmovement of host device 102. Motion sensors 194 may be monitored by andprovide information to processing module 160 or processor 195 to detectmotion. In various embodiments, motion sensors 194 may be implemented aspart of host device 102 (as shown in FIG. 1), infrared imaging module100, or other devices attached to or otherwise interfaced with hostdevice 102.

Processor 195 may be implemented as any appropriate processing device(e.g., logic device, microcontroller, processor, application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), or other device) that may be used by hostdevice 102 to execute appropriate instructions, such as softwareinstructions provided in memory 196. Display 197 may be used to displaycaptured and/or processed infrared images and/or other images, data, andinformation. Other components 198 may be used to implement any featuresof host device 102 as may be desired for various applications (e.g.,clocks, temperature sensors, a visible light camera, or othercomponents). In addition, a machine readable medium 193 may be providedfor storing non-transitory instructions for loading into memory 196 andexecution by processor 195.

In various embodiments, infrared imaging module 100 and socket 104 maybe implemented for mass production to facilitate high volumeapplications, such as for implementation in mobile telephones or otherdevices (e.g., requiring small form factors). In one embodiment, thecombination of infrared imaging module 100 and socket 104 may exhibitoverall dimensions of approximately 8.5 mm by 8.5 mm by 5.9 mm whileinfrared imaging module 100 is installed in socket 104.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded view of infrared imaging module 100juxtaposed over socket 104 in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. Infrared imaging module 100 may include a lens barrel 110, ahousing 120, an infrared sensor assembly 128 (see FIG. 4), a circuitboard 170, a base 150, and a processing module 160. As illustrated inFIG. 14, in some embodiments, functions of circuit board 179 may beincorporated into base 150, base 150 may comprise a ceramic structure,and processing module 160 may mount and electrically connect to a lowersurface of base 150 using, for example, a ball grid array (BGA)technique.

Lens barrel 110 may at least partially enclose an optical element 180(e.g., a lens) which is partially visible in FIG. 3 through an aperture112 in lens barrel 110. Lens barrel 110 may include a substantiallycylindrical extension 114 which may be used to interface lens barrel 110with an aperture 122 in housing 120.

Infrared sensor assembly 128 may be implemented, for example, below acap 130 (e.g., a lid) mounted on a substrate 140. As illustrated in FIG.4, infrared sensor assembly 128 may include a plurality of infraredsensors 132 (e.g., infrared detectors) implemented in an array or otherfashion on substrate 140 and covered by cap 130. For example, in oneembodiment, infrared sensor assembly 128 may be implemented as a focalplane array (FPA). Such a focal plane array may be implemented, forexample, as a vacuum package assembly (e.g., hermetically sealed by cap130 and substrate 140). In one embodiment, infrared sensor assembly 128may be implemented as a wafer level package (e.g., infrared sensorassembly 128 may be singulated from a set of vacuum package assembliesprovided on a wafer). In one embodiment, infrared sensor assembly 128may be implemented to operate using a power supply of approximately 2.4volts, 2.5 volts, 2.8 volts, or similar voltages.

Infrared sensors 132 may be configured to detect infrared radiation(e.g., infrared energy) from a target scene including, for example, midwave infrared wave bands (MWIR), long wave infrared wave bands (LWIR),and/or other thermal imaging bands as may be desired in particularimplementations. In one embodiment, infrared sensor assembly 128 may beprovided in accordance with wafer level packaging techniques.

Infrared sensors 132 may be implemented, for example, as microbolometersor other types of thermal imaging infrared sensors arranged in anydesired array pattern to provide a plurality of pixels. In oneembodiment, infrared sensors 132 may be implemented as vanadium oxide(VOx) detectors with a 17 μm pixel pitch. In various embodiments, arraysof approximately 32 by 32 infrared sensors 132, approximately 64 by 64infrared sensors 132, approximately 80 by 64 infrared sensors 132, orother array sizes may be used.

Substrate 140 may include various circuitry including, for example, aread out integrated circuit (ROIC) with dimensions less thanapproximately 5.5 mm by 5.5 mm in one embodiment. Substrate 140 may alsoinclude bond pads 142 that may be used to contact complementaryconnections positioned on inside surfaces of housing 120 when infraredimaging module 100 is assembled as shown in FIG. 3. In one embodiment,the ROIC may be implemented with low-dropout regulators (LDO) to performvoltage regulation to reduce power supply noise introduced to infraredsensor assembly 128 and thus provide an improved power supply rejectionratio (PSRR). Moreover, by implementing the LDO with the ROIC (e.g.,within a wafer level package), less die area may be consumed and fewerdiscrete die (or chips) are needed.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of infrared sensor assembly 128including an array of infrared sensors 132 disposed on an upper surfaceof substrate 140 in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Inthe illustrated embodiment, infrared sensors 132 are provided as part ofa unit cell array of a ROIC 402. ROIC 402 includes bias generation andtiming control circuitry 404, column amplifiers 405, a columnmultiplexer 406, a row multiplexer 408, and an output amplifier 410.Image frames (e.g., thermal images) captured by infrared sensors 132 maybe provided by output amplifier 410 to processing module 160, processor195, and/or any other appropriate components to perform variousprocessing techniques described herein. Although an 8 by 8 array isshown in FIG. 4, any desired array configuration may be used in otherembodiments. Further descriptions of ROICs and infrared sensors (e.g.,microbolometer circuits) may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,309 issuedFeb. 22, 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

Infrared sensor assembly 128 may capture images (e.g., image frames) andprovide such images from its ROIC at various rates. Processing module160 may be used to perform appropriate processing of captured infraredimages and may be implemented in accordance with any appropriatearchitecture. In one embodiment, processing module 160 may beimplemented as an ASIC. In this regard, such an ASIC may be configuredto perform image processing with high performance and/or highefficiency. In another embodiment, processing module 160 may beimplemented with a general purpose central processing unit (CPU), whichmay be configured to execute appropriate software instructions toperform image processing, coordinate and perform image processing withvarious image processing blocks, coordinate interfacing betweenprocessing module 160 and host device 102, and/or other operations. Inyet another embodiment, processing module 160 may be implemented with afield programmable gate array (FPGA). Processing module 160 may beimplemented with other types of processing and/or logic circuits inother embodiments as would be understood by one skilled in the art.

In these and other embodiments, processing module 160 may also beimplemented with other components where appropriate, such as, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, and/or one or more interfaces (e.g.,infrared detector interfaces, inter-integrated circuit (I2C) interfaces,mobile industry processor interfaces (MIPI), joint test action group(JTAG) interfaces (e.g., IEEE 1149.1 standard test access port andboundary-scan architecture), and/or other interfaces).

In some embodiments, infrared imaging module 100 may further include oneor more actuators 199 which may be used to adjust the focus of infraredimage frames captured by infrared sensor assembly 128. For example,actuators 199 may be used to move optical element 180, infrared sensors132, and/or other components relative to each other to selectively focusand defocus infrared image frames in accordance with techniquesdescribed herein. Actuators 199 may be implemented in accordance withany type of motion-inducing apparatus or mechanism, and may positionedat any location within or external to infrared imaging module 100 asappropriate for different applications.

When infrared imaging module 100 is assembled, housing 120 maysubstantially enclose infrared sensor assembly 128, base 150, andprocessing module 160. Housing 120 may facilitate connection of variouscomponents of infrared imaging module 100. For example, in oneembodiment, housing 120 may provide electrical connections 126 toconnect various components as further described.

Electrical connections 126 (e.g., conductive electrical paths, traces,or other types of connections) may be electrically connected with bondpads 142 when infrared imaging module 100 is assembled. In variousembodiments, electrical connections 126 may be embedded in housing 120,provided on inside surfaces of housing 120, and/or otherwise provided byhousing 120. Electrical connections 126 may terminate in connections 124protruding from the bottom surface of housing 120 as shown in FIG. 3.Connections 124 may connect with circuit board 170 when infrared imagingmodule 100 is assembled (e.g., housing 120 may rest atop circuit board170 in various embodiments). Processing module 160 may be electricallyconnected with circuit board 170 through appropriate electricalconnections. As a result, infrared sensor assembly 128 may beelectrically connected with processing module 160 through, for example,conductive electrical paths provided by: bond pads 142, complementaryconnections on inside surfaces of housing 120, electrical connections126 of housing 120, connections 124, circuit board 170 and/or base 150.Advantageously, such an arrangement may be implemented without requiringwire bonds to be provided between infrared sensor assembly 128 andprocessing module 160.

In various embodiments, electrical connections 126 in housing 120 may bemade from any desired material (e.g., copper or any other appropriateconductive material). In one embodiment, electrical connections 126 mayaid in dissipating heat from infrared imaging module 100.

Other connections may be used in other embodiments. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 14, in one embodiment, sensor assembly 128 may beattached to processing module 160 through a ceramic base 150 thatconnects to sensor assembly 128 by, for example, wire bonds 151, and toprocessing module 160 by a ball grid array (BGA) arrangement 152. Inanother embodiment, sensor assembly 128 may be mounted directly on arigid flexible board and electrically connected with wire bonds, andprocessing module 160 may be mounted and connected to the rigid flexibleboard with wire bonds or a BGA.

The various implementations of infrared imaging module 100 and hostdevice 102 set forth herein are provided for purposes of example, ratherthan limitation. In this regard, any of the various techniques describedherein may be applied to any infrared camera system, infrared imager, orother device for performing infrared/thermal imaging.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, substrate 140 of infrared sensor assembly 128may be mounted on base 150. In various embodiments, base 150 (e.g., apedestal) may be made, for example, of copper formed by metal injectionmolding (MIM) and provided with a black oxide or nickel-coated finish.Alternatively, in other embodiments, base 150 may be made of any desiredmaterial, such as for example zinc, aluminum, magnesium, or a ceramic,as desired for a given application, and may be formed by any desiredapplicable process, such as, for example, aluminum casting, MIM, or zincrapid casting, sintering, or photolithography techniques, as may bedesired for particular applications. In various embodiments, base 150may be implemented to provide structural support, various circuit paths,thermal heat sink properties, and other features where appropriate. Forexample, in one embodiment, base 150 may be a multi-layer structurecontaining conductive circuit trace layers and implemented at least inpart using ceramic materials.

In various embodiments, circuit board 170 may receive housing 120 andthus may physically support the various components of infrared imagingmodule 100. In various embodiments, circuit board 170 may be implementedas a printed circuit board (e.g., an FR4 circuit board or other types ofcircuit boards), a rigid or flexible interconnect (e.g., tape or othertype of interconnects), a flexible circuit substrate, a flexible plasticsubstrate, or other appropriate structures. In various embodiments, base150 may be implemented with the various features and attributesdescribed for circuit board 170, and vice versa.

Socket 104 may include a cavity 106 configured to receive infraredimaging module 100 (e.g., as shown in the assembled view of FIG. 2).Infrared imaging module 100 and/or socket 104 may include appropriatetabs, arms, pins, fasteners, or any other appropriate engagement memberswhich may be used to secure infrared imaging module 100 to or withinsocket 104 using friction, tension, adhesion, and/or any otherappropriate manner. Socket 104 may include engagement members 107 thatmay engage surfaces 109 of housing 120 when infrared imaging module 100is inserted into a cavity 106 of socket 104. Other types of engagementmembers may be used in other embodiments.

Infrared imaging module 100 may be electrically connected with socket104 through appropriate electrical connections (e.g., contacts, pins,wires, or any other appropriate connections). For example, socket 104may include electrical connections 108 which may contact correspondingelectrical connections of infrared imaging module 100 (e.g.,interconnect pads, contacts, or other electrical connections on side orbottom surfaces of circuit board 170, bond pads 142 or other electricalconnections on base 150, or other connections). Electrical connections108 may be made from any desired material (e.g., copper or any otherappropriate conductive material). In one embodiment, electricalconnections 108 may be mechanically biased to press against electricalconnections of infrared imaging module 100 when infrared imaging module100 is inserted into cavity 106 of socket 104. In one embodiment,electrical connections 108 may at least partially secure infraredimaging module 100 in socket 104. Other types of electrical connectionsmay be used in other embodiments.

Socket 104 may be electrically connected with host device 102 throughsimilar types of electrical connections. For example, in one embodiment,host device 102 may include electrical connections (e.g., solderedconnections, snap-in connections, or other connections) that connectwith electrical connections 108 passing through apertures 190. Invarious embodiments, such electrical connections may be made to thesides and/or bottom of socket 104.

Various components of infrared imaging module 100 may be implementedwith flip chip technology which may be used to mount components directlyto circuit boards without the additional clearances typically needed forwire bond connections. Flip chip connections may be used, as an example,to reduce the overall size of infrared imaging module 100 for use incompact small form factor applications. For example, in one embodiment,processing module 160 may be mounted to circuit board 170 using flipchip connections. For example, infrared imaging module 100 may beimplemented with such flip chip configurations.

In various embodiments, infrared imaging module 100 and/or associatedcomponents may be implemented in accordance with various techniques(e.g., wafer level packaging techniques) as set forth in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/844,124 filed Jul. 27, 2010, and U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/469,651 filed Mar. 30, 2011, whichare incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, inaccordance with one or more embodiments, infrared imaging module 100and/or associated components may be implemented, calibrated, tested,and/or used in accordance with various techniques, such as for exampleas set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 7,470,902 issued Dec. 30, 2008, U.S. Pat.No. 6,028,309 issued Feb. 22, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,812,465 issued Nov.2, 2004, U.S. Pat. No. 7,034,301 issued Apr. 25, 2006, U.S. Pat. No.7,679,048 issued Mar. 16, 2010, U.S. Pat. No. 7,470,904 issued Dec. 30,2008, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/202,880 filed Sep. 2, 2008,and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/202,896 filed Sep. 2, 2008,which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

In some embodiments, host device 102 may include other components 198such as a non-thermal camera (e.g., a visible light camera or other typeof non-thermal imager). The non-thermal camera may be a small formfactor imaging module or imaging device, and may, in some embodiments,be implemented in a manner similar to the various embodiments ofinfrared imaging module 100 disclosed herein, with one or more sensorsand/or sensor arrays responsive to radiation in non-thermal spectrums(e.g., radiation in visible light wavelengths, ultraviolet wavelengths,and/or other non-thermal wavelengths). For example, in some embodiments,the non-thermal camera may be implemented with a charge-coupled device(CCD) sensor, an electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD) sensor, acomplementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensor, a scientific CMOS(sCMOS) sensor, or other filters and/or sensors.

In some embodiments, the non-thermal camera may be co-located withinfrared imaging module 100 and oriented such that a field-of-view (FOV)of the non-thermal camera at least partially overlaps a FOV of infraredimaging module 100. In one example, infrared imaging module 100 and anon-thermal camera may be implemented as a dual sensor module sharing acommon substrate according to various techniques described in U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/748,018 filed Dec. 31, 2012, whichis incorporated herein by reference.

For embodiments having such a non-thermal light camera, variouscomponents (e.g., processor 195, processing module 160, and/or otherprocessing component) may be configured to superimpose, fuse, blend, orotherwise combine infrared images (e.g., including thermal images)captured by infrared imaging module 100 and non-thermal images (e.g.,including visible light images) captured by a non-thermal camera,whether captured at substantially the same time or different times(e.g., time-spaced over hours, days, daytime versus nighttime, and/orotherwise).

In some embodiments, thermal and non-thermal images may be processed togenerate combined images (e.g., one or more processes performed on suchimages in some embodiments). For example, scene-based NUC processing maybe performed (as further described herein), true color processing may beperformed, and/or high contrast processing may be performed.

Regarding true color processing, thermal images may be blended withnon-thermal images by, for example, blending a radiometric component ofa thermal image with a corresponding component of a non-thermal imageaccording to a blending parameter, which may be adjustable by a userand/or machine in some embodiments. For example, luminance orchrominance components of the thermal and non-thermal images may becombined according to the blending parameter. In one embodiment, suchblending techniques may be referred to as true color infrared imagery.For example, in daytime imaging, a blended image may comprise anon-thermal color image, which includes a luminance component and achrominance component, with its luminance value replaced and/or blendedwith the luminance value from a thermal image. The use of the luminancedata from the thermal image causes the intensity of the true non-thermalcolor image to brighten or dim based on the temperature of the object.As such, these blending techniques provide thermal imaging for daytimeor visible light images.

Regarding high contrast processing, high spatial frequency content maybe obtained from one or more of the thermal and non-thermal images(e.g., by performing high pass filtering, difference imaging, and/orother techniques). A combined image may include a radiometric componentof a thermal image and a blended component including infrared (e.g.,thermal) characteristics of a scene blended with the high spatialfrequency content, according to a blending parameter, which may beadjustable by a user and/or machine in some embodiments. In someembodiments, high spatial frequency content from non-thermal images maybe blended with thermal images by superimposing the high spatialfrequency content onto the thermal images, where the high spatialfrequency content replaces or overwrites those portions of the thermalimages corresponding to where the high spatial frequency content exists.For example, the high spatial frequency content may include edges ofobjects depicted in images of a scene, but may not exist within theinterior of such objects. In such embodiments, blended image data maysimply include the high spatial frequency content, which maysubsequently be encoded into one or more components of combined images.

For example, a radiometric component of thermal image may be achrominance component of the thermal image, and the high spatialfrequency content may be derived from the luminance and/or chrominancecomponents of a non-thermal image. In this embodiment, a combined imagemay include the radiometric component (e.g., the chrominance componentof the thermal image) encoded into a chrominance component of thecombined image and the high spatial frequency content directly encoded(e.g., as blended image data but with no thermal image contribution)into a luminance component of the combined image. By doing so, aradiometric calibration of the radiometric component of the thermalimage may be retained. In similar embodiments, blended image data mayinclude the high spatial frequency content added to a luminancecomponent of the thermal images, and the resulting blended data encodedinto a luminance component of resulting combined images.

For example, any of the techniques disclosed in the followingapplications may be used in various embodiments: U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/477,828 filed Jun. 3, 2009; U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/766,739 filed Apr. 23, 2010; U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/105,765 filed May 11, 2011; U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/437,645 filed Apr. 2, 2012; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/473,207 filed Apr. 8, 2011; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/746,069 filed Dec. 26, 2012; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/746,074 filed Dec. 26, 2012; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/748,018 filed Dec. 31, 2012; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/792,582 filed Mar. 15, 2013; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/793,952 filed Mar. 15, 2013; and International Patent Application No.PCT/EP2011/056432 filed Apr. 21, 2011, all of such applications areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Any of thetechniques described herein, or described in other applications orpatents referenced herein, may be applied to any of the various thermaldevices, non-thermal devices, and uses described herein.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in various embodiments, host device 102 mayinclude a shutter 105. In this regard, shutter 105 may be selectivelypositioned over socket 104 (e.g., as identified by arrows 103) whileinfrared imaging module 100 is installed therein. In this regard,shutter 105 may be used, for example, to protect infrared imaging module100 when not in use. Shutter 105 may also be used as a temperaturereference as part of a calibration process (e.g., a NUC process or othercalibration processes) for infrared imaging module 100, as would beunderstood by one skilled in the art.

In various embodiments, shutter 105 may be made from various materialssuch as, for example, polymers, glass, aluminum (e.g., painted oranodized) or other materials. In various embodiments, shutter 105 mayinclude one or more coatings to selectively filter electromagneticradiation and/or adjust various optical properties of shutter 105 (e.g.,a uniform blackbody coating or a reflective gold coating).

In another embodiment, shutter 105 may be fixed in place to protectinfrared imaging module 100 at all times. In this case, shutter 105 or aportion of shutter 105 may be made from appropriate materials (e.g.,polymers or infrared transmitting materials, such as silicon, germanium,zinc selenide, or chalcogenide glasses), that do not substantiallyfilter desired infrared wavelengths. In another embodiment, a shuttermay be implemented as part of infrared imaging module 100 (e.g., withinor as part of a lens barrel or other components of infrared imagingmodule 100), as would be understood by one skilled in the art.

Alternatively, in another embodiment, a shutter (e.g., shutter 105 orother type of external or internal shutter) need not be provided, butrather a NUC process or other type of calibration may be performed usingshutterless techniques. In another embodiment, a NUC process or othertype of calibration using shutterless techniques may be performed incombination with other shutter-based techniques, as described in moredetail below.

Infrared imaging module 100 and host device 102 may be implemented inaccordance with any of the various techniques set forth in U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,873 filed Jun. 10, 2011, U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,879 filed Jun. 10, 2011, andU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,888 filed Jun. 10, 2011,which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

In various embodiments, the components of host device 102 and/orinfrared imaging module 100 may be implemented as a local or distributedsystem, with components in communication with each other over wiredand/or wireless networks. Accordingly, the various operations identifiedin this disclosure may be performed by local and/or remote components asmay be desired in particular implementations.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of various operations to determine NUCterms in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. In someembodiments, the operations of FIG. 5 may be performed by processingmodule 160 or processor 195 (both also generally referred to as aprocessor) operating on image frames captured by infrared sensors 132.

In block 505, infrared sensors 132 begin capturing image frames of ascene. Typically, the scene will be the real world environment in whichhost device 102 is currently located. In this regard, shutter 105 (ifoptionally provided) may be opened to permit infrared imaging module toreceive infrared radiation from the scene. Infrared sensors 132 maycontinue capturing image frames during all operations shown in FIG. 5.In this regard, the continuously captured image frames may be used forvarious operations as further discussed. In one embodiment, the capturedimage frames may be temporally filtered (e.g., in accordance with theprocess of block 826 further described herein with regard to FIG. 8) andbe processed by other terms (e.g., factory gain terms 812, factoryoffset terms 816, previously determined NUC terms 817, column FPN terms820, and row FPN terms 824 as further described herein with regard toFIG. 8) before they are used in the operations shown in FIG. 5.

In block 510, a NUC process initiating event is detected. In oneembodiment, the NUC process may be initiated in response to physicalmovement of host device 102. Such movement may be detected, for example,by motion sensors 194 which may be polled by a processor. In oneexample, a user may move host device 102 in a particular manner, such asby intentionally waving host device 102 back and forth in an “erase” or“swipe” movement. In this regard, the user may move host device 102 inaccordance with a predetermined speed and direction (velocity), such asin an up and down, side to side, or other pattern to initiate the NUCprocess. In this example, the use of such movements may permit the userto intuitively operate host device 102 to simulate the “erasing” ofnoise in captured image frames.

In another example, a NUC process may be initiated by host device 102 ifmotion exceeding a threshold value is detected (e.g., motion greaterthan expected for ordinary use). It is contemplated that any desiredtype of spatial translation of host device 102 may be used to initiatethe NUC process.

In yet another example, a NUC process may be initiated by host device102 if a minimum time has elapsed since a previously performed NUCprocess. In a further example, a NUC process may be initiated by hostdevice 102 if infrared imaging module 100 has experienced a minimumtemperature change since a previously performed NUC process. In a stillfurther example, a NUC process may be continuously initiated andrepeated.

In block 515, after a NUC process initiating event is detected, it isdetermined whether the NUC process should actually be performed. In thisregard, the NUC process may be selectively initiated based on whetherone or more additional conditions are met. For example, in oneembodiment, the NUC process may not be performed unless a minimum timehas elapsed since a previously performed NUC process. In anotherembodiment, the NUC process may not be performed unless infrared imagingmodule 100 has experienced a minimum temperature change since apreviously performed NUC process. Other criteria or conditions may beused in other embodiments. If appropriate criteria or conditions havebeen met, then the flow diagram continues to block 520. Otherwise, theflow diagram returns to block 505.

In the NUC process, blurred image frames may be used to determine NUCterms which may be applied to captured image frames to correct for FPN.As discussed, in one embodiment, the blurred image frames may beobtained by accumulating multiple image frames of a moving scene (e.g.,captured while the scene and/or the thermal imager is in motion). Inanother embodiment, the blurred image frames may be obtained bydefocusing an optical element or other component of the thermal imager.

Accordingly, in block 520 a choice of either approach is provided. Ifthe motion-based approach is used, then the flow diagram continues toblock 525. If the defocus-based approach is used, then the flow diagramcontinues to block 530.

Referring now to the motion-based approach, in block 525, motion isdetected. For example, in one embodiment, motion may be detected basedon the image frames captured by infrared sensors 132. In this regard, anappropriate motion detection process (e.g., an image registrationprocess, a frame-to-frame difference calculation, or other appropriateprocess) may be applied to captured image frames to determine whethermotion is present (e.g., whether static or moving image frames have beencaptured). For example, in one embodiment, it can be determined whetherpixels or regions around the pixels of consecutive image frames havechanged more than a user defined amount (e.g., a percentage and/orthreshold value). If at least a given percentage of pixels have changedby at least the user defined amount, then motion will be detected withsufficient certainty to proceed to block 535.

In another embodiment, motion may be determined on a per pixel basis,wherein only pixels that exhibit significant changes are accumulated toprovide the blurred image frame. For example, counters may be providedfor each pixel and used to ensure that the same number of pixel valuesare accumulated for each pixel, or used to average the pixel valuesbased on the number of pixel values actually accumulated for each pixel.Other types of image-based motion detection may be performed such asperforming a Radon transform.

In another embodiment, motion may be detected based on data provided bymotion sensors 194. In one embodiment, such motion detection may includedetecting whether host device 102 is moving along a relatively straighttrajectory through space. For example, if host device 102 is movingalong a relatively straight trajectory, then it is possible that certainobjects appearing in the imaged scene may not be sufficiently blurred(e.g., objects in the scene that may be aligned with or movingsubstantially parallel to the straight trajectory). Thus, in such anembodiment, the motion detected by motion sensors 194 may be conditionedon host device 102 exhibiting, or not exhibiting, particulartrajectories.

In yet another embodiment, both a motion detection process and motionsensors 194 may be used. Thus, using any of these various embodiments, adetermination can be made as to whether or not each image frame wascaptured while at least a portion of the scene and host device 102 werein motion relative to each other (e.g., which may be caused by hostdevice 102 moving relative to the scene, at least a portion of the scenemoving relative to host device 102, or both).

It is expected that the image frames for which motion was detected mayexhibit some secondary blurring of the captured scene (e.g., blurredthermal image data associated with the scene) due to the thermal timeconstants of infrared sensors 132 (e.g., microbolometer thermal timeconstants) interacting with the scene movement.

In block 535, image frames for which motion was detected areaccumulated. For example, if motion is detected for a continuous seriesof image frames, then the image frames of the series may be accumulated.As another example, if motion is detected for only some image frames,then the non-moving image frames may be skipped and not included in theaccumulation. Thus, a continuous or discontinuous set of image framesmay be selected to be accumulated based on the detected motion.

In block 540, the accumulated image frames are averaged to provide ablurred image frame. Because the accumulated image frames were capturedduring motion, it is expected that actual scene information will varybetween the image frames and thus cause the scene information to befurther blurred in the resulting blurred image frame (block 545).

In contrast, FPN (e.g., caused by one or more components of infraredimaging module 100) will remain fixed over at least short periods oftime and over at least limited changes in scene irradiance duringmotion. As a result, image frames captured in close proximity in timeand space during motion will suffer from identical or at least verysimilar FPN. Thus, although scene information may change in consecutiveimage frames, the FPN will stay essentially constant. By averaging,multiple image frames captured during motion will blur the sceneinformation, but will not blur the FPN. As a result, FPN will remainmore clearly defined in the blurred image frame provided in block 545than the scene information.

In one embodiment, 32 or more image frames are accumulated and averagedin blocks 535 and 540. However, any desired number of image frames maybe used in other embodiments, but with generally decreasing correctionaccuracy as frame count is decreased.

Referring now to the defocus-based approach, in block 530, a defocusoperation may be performed to intentionally defocus the image framescaptured by infrared sensors 132. For example, in one embodiment, one ormore actuators 199 may be used to adjust, move, or otherwise translateoptical element 180, infrared sensor assembly 128, and/or othercomponents of infrared imaging module 100 to cause infrared sensors 132to capture a blurred (e.g., unfocused) image frame of the scene. Othernon-actuator based techniques are also contemplated for intentionallydefocusing infrared image frames such as, for example, manual (e.g.,user-initiated) defocusing.

Although the scene may appear blurred in the image frame, FPN (e.g.,caused by one or more components of infrared imaging module 100) willremain unaffected by the defocusing operation. As a result, a blurredimage frame of the scene will be provided (block 545) with FPN remainingmore clearly defined in the blurred image than the scene information.

In the above discussion, the defocus-based approach has been describedwith regard to a single captured image frame. In another embodiment, thedefocus-based approach may include accumulating multiple image frameswhile the infrared imaging module 100 has been defocused and averagingthe defocused image frames to remove the effects of temporal noise andprovide a blurred image frame in block 545.

Thus, it will be appreciated that a blurred image frame may be providedin block 545 by either the motion-based approach or the defocus-basedapproach. Because much of the scene information will be blurred byeither motion, defocusing, or both, the blurred image frame may beeffectively considered a low pass filtered version of the originalcaptured image frames with respect to scene information.

In block 550, the blurred image frame is processed to determine updatedrow and column FPN terms (e.g., if row and column FPN terms have notbeen previously determined, then the updated row and column FPN termsmay be new row and column FPN terms in the first iteration of block550). As used in this disclosure, the terms row and column may be usedinterchangeably, depending on the orientation of infrared sensors 132and/or other components of infrared imaging module 100.

In one embodiment, block 550 includes determining a spatial FPNcorrection term for each row of the blurred image frame (e.g., each rowmay have its own spatial FPN correction term), and also determining aspatial FPN correction term for each column of the blurred image frame(e.g., each column may have its own spatial FPN correction term). Suchprocessing may be used to reduce the spatial and slowly varying (1/f)row and column FPN inherent in thermal imagers caused by, for example,1/f noise characteristics of amplifiers in ROIC 402, which may manifestas vertical and horizontal stripes in image frames.

Advantageously, by determining spatial row and column FPN terms usingthe blurred image frame, there will be a reduced risk of vertical andhorizontal objects in the actual imaged scene from being mistaken forrow and column noise (e.g., real scene content will be blurred while FPNremains unblurred).

In one embodiment, row and column FPN terms may be determined byconsidering differences between neighboring pixels of the blurred imageframe. For example, FIG. 6 illustrates differences between neighboringpixels in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Specifically,in FIG. 6, a pixel 610 is compared to its 8 nearest horizontalneighbors: d0-d3 on one side and d4-d7 on the other side. Differencesbetween the neighbor pixels can be averaged to obtain an estimate of theoffset error of the illustrated group of pixels. An offset error may becalculated for each pixel in a row or column and the average result maybe used to correct the entire row or column.

To prevent real scene data from being interpreted as noise, upper andlower threshold values may be used (thPix and −thPix). Pixel valuesfalling outside these threshold values (pixels d1 and d4 in thisexample) are not used to obtain the offset error. In addition, themaximum amount of row and column FPN correction may be limited by thesethreshold values.

Further techniques for performing spatial row and column FPN correctionprocessing are set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/396,340filed Mar. 2, 2009 which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the updated row and column FPN termsdetermined in block 550 are stored (block 552) and applied (block 555)to the blurred image frame provided in block 545. After these terms areapplied, some of the spatial row and column FPN in the blurred imageframe may be reduced. However, because such terms are applied generallyto rows and columns, additional FPN may remain, such as spatiallyuncorrelated FPN associated with pixel-to-pixel drift or other causes.Neighborhoods of spatially correlated FPN may also remain, which may notbe directly associated with individual rows and columns. Accordingly,further processing may be performed as discussed below to determine NUCterms.

In block 560, local contrast values (e.g., edges or absolute values ofgradients between adjacent or small groups of pixels) in the blurredimage frame are determined. If scene information in the blurred imageframe includes contrasting areas that have not been significantlyblurred (e.g., high contrast edges in the original scene data), thensuch features may be identified by a contrast determination process inblock 560.

For example, local contrast values in the blurred image frame may becalculated, or any other desired type of edge detection process may beapplied to identify certain pixels in the blurred image as being part ofan area of local contrast. Pixels that are marked in this manner may beconsidered as containing excessive high spatial frequency sceneinformation that would be interpreted as FPN (e.g., such regions maycorrespond to portions of the scene that have not been sufficientlyblurred). As such, these pixels may be excluded from being used in thefurther determination of NUC terms. In one embodiment, such contrastdetection processing may rely on a threshold that is higher than theexpected contrast value associated with FPN (e.g., pixels exhibiting acontrast value higher than the threshold may be considered to be sceneinformation, and those lower than the threshold may be considered to beexhibiting FPN).

In one embodiment, the contrast determination of block 560 may beperformed on the blurred image frame after row and column FPN terms havebeen applied to the blurred image frame (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5). Inanother embodiment, block 560 may be performed prior to block 550 todetermine contrast before row and column FPN terms are determined (e.g.,to prevent scene based contrast from contributing to the determinationof such terms).

Following block 560, it is expected that any high spatial frequencycontent remaining in the blurred image frame may be generally attributedto spatially uncorrelated FPN. In this regard, following block 560, muchof the other noise or actual desired scene based information has beenremoved or excluded from the blurred image frame due to: intentionalblurring of the image frame (e.g., by motion or defocusing in blocks 520through 545), application of row and column FPN terms (block 555), andcontrast determination (block 560).

Thus, it can be expected that following block 560, any remaining highspatial frequency content (e.g., exhibited as areas of contrast ordifferences in the blurred image frame) may be attributed to spatiallyuncorrelated FPN. Accordingly, in block 565, the blurred image frame ishigh pass filtered. In one embodiment, this may include applying a highpass filter to extract the high spatial frequency content from theblurred image frame. In another embodiment, this may include applying alow pass filter to the blurred image frame and taking a differencebetween the low pass filtered image frame and the unfiltered blurredimage frame to obtain the high spatial frequency content. In accordancewith various embodiments of the present disclosure, a high pass filtermay be implemented by calculating a mean difference between a sensorsignal (e.g., a pixel value) and its neighbors.

In block 570, a flat field correction process is performed on the highpass filtered blurred image frame to determine updated NUC terms (e.g.,if a NUC process has not previously been performed, then the updated NUCterms may be new NUC terms in the first iteration of block 570).

For example, FIG. 7 illustrates a flat field correction technique 700 inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. In FIG. 7, a NUC termmay be determined for each pixel 710 of the blurred image frame usingthe values of its neighboring pixels 712 to 726. For each pixel 710,several gradients may be determined, based on the absolute differencebetween the values of various adjacent pixels. For example, absolutevalue differences may be determined between: pixels 712 and 714 (a leftto right diagonal gradient), pixels 716 and 718 (a top to bottomvertical gradient), pixels 720 and 722 (a right to left diagonalgradient), and pixels 724 and 726 (a left to right horizontal gradient).

These absolute differences may be summed to provide a summed gradientfor pixel 710. A weight value may be determined for pixel 710 that isinversely proportional to the summed gradient. This process may beperformed for all pixels 710 of the blurred image frame until a weightvalue is provided for each pixel 710. For areas with low gradients(e.g., areas that are blurry or have low contrast), the weight valuewill be close to one. Conversely, for areas with high gradients, theweight value will be zero or close to zero. The update to the NUC termas estimated by the high pass filter is multiplied with the weightvalue.

In one embodiment, the risk of introducing scene information into theNUC terms can be further reduced by applying some amount of temporaldamping to the NUC term determination process. For example, a temporaldamping factor λ, between 0 and 1 may be chosen such that the new NUCterm (NUC_(NEW)) stored is a weighted average of the old NUC term(NUC_(OLD)) and the estimated updated NUC term (NUC_(UPDATE)). In oneembodiment, this can be expressed asNUC_(NEW)=λ·NUC_(OLD)+(1−λ)·(NUC_(OLD)+NUC_(UPDATE)).

Although the determination of NUC terms has been described with regardto gradients, local contrast values may be used instead, whereappropriate. Other techniques may also be used such as, for example,standard deviation calculations. Other types of flat field correctionprocesses may be performed to determine NUC terms, including, forexample, various processes identified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,309 issuedFeb. 22, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,812,465 issued Nov. 2, 2004, and U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/114,865 filed May 5, 2008, which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Referring again to FIG. 5, block 570 may include additional processingof the NUC terms. For example, in one embodiment, to preserve the scenesignal mean, the sum of all NUC terms may be normalized to zero bysubtracting the NUC term mean from each NUC term. Also in block 570, toavoid row and column noise affecting the NUC terms, the mean value ofeach row and column may be subtracted from the NUC terms for each rowand column. As a result, row and column FPN filters using the row andcolumn FPN terms determined in block 550 may be better able to filterout row and column noise in further iterations (e.g., as further shownin FIG. 8) after the NUC terms are applied to captured images (e.g., inblock 580 further discussed herein). In this regard, the row and columnFPN filters may in general use more data to calculate the per row andper column offset coefficients (e.g., row and column FPN terms) and maythus provide a more robust alternative for reducing spatially correlatedFPN than the NUC terms which are based on high pass filtering to capturespatially uncorrelated noise.

In blocks 571-573, additional high pass filtering and furtherdeterminations of updated NUC terms may be optionally performed toremove spatially correlated FPN with lower spatial frequency thanpreviously removed by row and column FPN terms. In this regard, somevariability in infrared sensors 132 or other components of infraredimaging module 100 may result in spatially correlated FPN noise thatcannot be easily modeled as row or column noise. Such spatiallycorrelated FPN may include, for example, window defects on a sensorpackage or a cluster of infrared sensors 132 that respond differently toirradiance than neighboring infrared sensors 132. In one embodiment,such spatially correlated FPN may be mitigated with an offsetcorrection. If the amount of such spatially correlated FPN issignificant, then the noise may also be detectable in the blurred imageframe. Since this type of noise may affect a neighborhood of pixels, ahigh pass filter with a small kernel may not detect the FPN in theneighborhood (e.g., all values used in high pass filter may be takenfrom the neighborhood of affected pixels and thus may be affected by thesame offset error). For example, if the high pass filtering of block 565is performed with a small kernel (e.g., considering only immediatelyadjacent pixels that fall within a neighborhood of pixels affected byspatially correlated FPN), then broadly distributed spatially correlatedFPN may not be detected.

For example, FIG. 11 illustrates spatially correlated FPN in aneighborhood of pixels in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. As shown in a sample image frame 1100, a neighborhood ofpixels 1110 may exhibit spatially correlated FPN that is not preciselycorrelated to individual rows and columns and is distributed over aneighborhood of several pixels (e.g., a neighborhood of approximately 4by 4 pixels in this example). Sample image frame 1100 also includes aset of pixels 1120 exhibiting substantially uniform response that arenot used in filtering calculations, and a set of pixels 1130 that areused to estimate a low pass value for the neighborhood of pixels 1110.In one embodiment, pixels 1130 may be a number of pixels divisible bytwo in order to facilitate efficient hardware or software calculations.

Referring again to FIG. 5, in blocks 571-573, additional high passfiltering and further determinations of updated NUC terms may beoptionally performed to remove spatially correlated FPN such asexhibited by pixels 1110. In block 571, the updated NUC terms determinedin block 570 are applied to the blurred image frame. Thus, at this time,the blurred image frame will have been initially corrected for spatiallycorrelated FPN (e.g., by application of the updated row and column FPNterms in block 555), and also initially corrected for spatiallyuncorrelated FPN (e.g., by application of the updated NUC terms appliedin block 571).

In block 572, a further high pass filter is applied with a larger kernelthan was used in block 565, and further updated NUC terms may bedetermined in block 573. For example, to detect the spatially correlatedFPN present in pixels 1110, the high pass filter applied in block 572may include data from a sufficiently large enough neighborhood of pixelssuch that differences can be determined between unaffected pixels (e.g.,pixels 1120) and affected pixels (e.g., pixels 1110). For example, a lowpass filter with a large kernel can be used (e.g., an N by N kernel thatis much greater than 3 by 3 pixels) and the results may be subtracted toperform appropriate high pass filtering.

In one embodiment, for computational efficiency, a sparse kernel may beused such that only a small number of neighboring pixels inside an N byN neighborhood are used. For any given high pass filter operation usingdistant neighbors (e.g., a large kernel), there is a risk of modelingactual (potentially blurred) scene information as spatially correlatedFPN. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the temporal damping factor λ maybe set close to 1 for updated NUC terms determined in block 573.

In various embodiments, blocks 571-573 may be repeated (e.g., cascaded)to iteratively perform high pass filtering with increasing kernel sizesto provide further updated NUC terms further correct for spatiallycorrelated FPN of desired neighborhood sizes. In one embodiment, thedecision to perform such iterations may be determined by whetherspatially correlated FPN has actually been removed by the updated NUCterms of the previous performance of blocks 571-573.

After blocks 571-573 are finished, a decision is made regarding whetherto apply the updated NUC terms to captured image frames (block 574). Forexample, if an average of the absolute value of the NUC terms for theentire image frame is less than a minimum threshold value, or greaterthan a maximum threshold value, the NUC terms may be deemed spurious orunlikely to provide meaningful correction. Alternatively, thresholdingcriteria may be applied to individual pixels to determine which pixelsreceive updated NUC terms. In one embodiment, the threshold values maycorrespond to differences between the newly calculated NUC terms andpreviously calculated NUC terms. In another embodiment, the thresholdvalues may be independent of previously calculated NUC terms. Othertests may be applied (e.g., spatial correlation tests) to determinewhether the NUC terms should be applied.

If the NUC terms are deemed spurious or unlikely to provide meaningfulcorrection, then the flow diagram returns to block 505. Otherwise, thenewly determined NUC terms are stored (block 575) to replace previousNUC terms (e.g., determined by a previously performed iteration of FIG.5) and applied (block 580) to captured image frames.

FIG. 8 illustrates various image processing techniques of FIG. 5 andother operations applied in an image processing pipeline 800 inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. In this regard,pipeline 800 identifies various operations of FIG. 5 in the context ofan overall iterative image processing scheme for correcting image framesprovided by infrared imaging module 100. In some embodiments, pipeline800 may be provided by processing module 160 or processor 195 (both alsogenerally referred to as a processor) operating on image frames capturedby infrared sensors 132.

Image frames captured by infrared sensors 132 may be provided to a frameaverager 804 that integrates multiple image frames to provide imageframes 802 with an improved signal to noise ratio. Frame averager 804may be effectively provided by infrared sensors 132, ROIC 402, and othercomponents of infrared sensor assembly 128 that are implemented tosupport high image capture rates. For example, in one embodiment,infrared sensor assembly 128 may capture infrared image frames at aframe rate of 240 Hz (e.g., 240 images per second). In this embodiment,such a high frame rate may be implemented, for example, by operatinginfrared sensor assembly 128 at relatively low voltages (e.g.,compatible with mobile telephone voltages) and by using a relativelysmall array of infrared sensors 132 (e.g., an array of 64 by 64 infraredsensors in one embodiment).

In one embodiment, such infrared image frames may be provided frominfrared sensor assembly 128 to processing module 160 at a high framerate (e.g., 240 Hz or other frame rates). In another embodiment,infrared sensor assembly 128 may integrate over longer time periods, ormultiple time periods, to provide integrated (e.g., averaged) infraredimage frames to processing module 160 at a lower frame rate (e.g., 30Hz, 9 Hz, or other frame rates). Further information regardingimplementations that may be used to provide high image capture rates maybe found in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,879 filedJun. 10, 2011 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Image frames 802 proceed through pipeline 800, where they are adjustedby various terms, temporally filtered, used to determine the variousadjustment terms, and gain compensated.

In blocks 810 and 814, factory gain terms 812 and factory offset terms816 are applied to image frames 802 to compensate for gain and offsetdifferences, respectively, between the various infrared sensors 132and/or other components of infrared imaging module 100 determined duringmanufacturing and testing.

In block 580, NUC terms 817 are applied to image frames 802 to correctfor FPN as discussed. In one embodiment, if NUC terms 817 have not yetbeen determined (e.g., before a NUC process has been initiated), thenblock 580 may not be performed, or initialization values may be used forNUC terms 817 that result in no alteration to the image data (e.g.,offsets for every pixel would be equal to zero).

In blocks 818 and 822, column FPN terms 820 and row FPN terms 824,respectively, are applied to image frames 802. Column FPN terms 820 androw FPN terms 824 may be determined in accordance with block 550 asdiscussed. In one embodiment, if the column FPN terms 820 and row FPNterms 824 have not yet been determined (e.g., before a NUC process hasbeen initiated), then blocks 818 and 822 may not be performed orinitialization values may be used for the column FPN terms 820 and rowFPN terms 824 that result in no alteration to the image data (e.g.,offsets for every pixel would be equal to zero).

In block 826, temporal filtering is performed on image frames 802 inaccordance with a temporal noise reduction (TNR) process. FIG. 9illustrates a TNR process in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. In FIG. 9, a presently received image frame 802 a and apreviously temporally filtered image frame 802 b are processed todetermine a new temporally filtered image frame 802 e. Image frames 802a and 802 b include local neighborhoods of pixels 803 a and 803 bcentered around pixels 805 a and 805 b, respectively. Neighborhoods 803a and 803 b correspond to the same locations within image frames 802 aand 802 b and are subsets of the total pixels in image frames 802 a and802 b. In the illustrated embodiment, neighborhoods 803 a and 803 binclude areas of 5 by 5 pixels. Other neighborhood sizes may be used inother embodiments.

Differences between corresponding pixels of neighborhoods 803 a and 803b are determined and averaged to provide an averaged delta value 805 cfor the location corresponding to pixels 805 a and 805 b. Averaged deltavalue 805 c may be used to determine weight values in block 807 to beapplied to pixels 805 a and 805 b of image frames 802 a and 802 b.

In one embodiment, as shown in graph 809, the weight values determinedin block 807 may be inversely proportional to averaged delta value 805 csuch that weight values drop rapidly towards zero when there are largedifferences between neighborhoods 803 a and 803 b. In this regard, largedifferences between neighborhoods 803 a and 803 b may indicate thatchanges have occurred within the scene (e.g., due to motion), and in oneembodiment, pixels 802 a and 802 b may be appropriately weighted toavoid introducing blur across frame-to-frame scene changes. Otherassociations between weight values and averaged delta value 805 c may beused in various embodiments.

The weight values determined in block 807 may be applied to pixels 805 aand 805 b to determine a value for corresponding pixel 805 e of imageframe 802 e (block 811). In this regard, pixel 805 e may have a valuethat is a weighted average (or other combination) of pixels 805 a and805 b, depending on averaged delta value 805 c and the weight valuesdetermined in block 807.

For example, pixel 805 e of temporally filtered image frame 802 e may bea weighted sum of pixels 805 a and 805 b of image frames 802 a and 802b. If the average difference between pixels 805 a and 805 b is due tonoise, then it may be expected that the average change betweenneighborhoods 805 a and 805 b will be close to zero (e.g., correspondingto the average of uncorrelated changes). Under such circumstances, itmay be expected that the sum of the differences between neighborhoods805 a and 805 b will be close to zero. In this case, pixel 805 a ofimage frame 802 a may both be appropriately weighted so as to contributeto the value of pixel 805 e.

However, if the sum of such differences is not zero (e.g., evendiffering from zero by a small amount in one embodiment), then thechanges may be interpreted as being attributed to motion instead ofnoise. Thus, motion may be detected based on the average changeexhibited by neighborhoods 805 a and 805 b. Under these circumstances,pixel 805 a of image frame 802 a may be weighted heavily, while pixel805 b of image frame 802 b may be weighted lightly.

Other embodiments are also contemplated. For example, although averageddelta value 805 c has been described as being determined based onneighborhoods 805 a and 805 b, in other embodiments averaged delta value805 c may be determined based on any desired criteria (e.g., based onindividual pixels or other types of groups of sets of pixels).

In the above embodiments, image frame 802 a has been described as apresently received image frame and image frame 802 b has been describedas a previously temporally filtered image frame. In another embodiment,image frames 802 a and 802 b may be first and second image framescaptured by infrared imaging module 100 that have not been temporallyfiltered.

FIG. 10 illustrates further implementation details in relation to theTNR process of block 826. As shown in FIG. 10, image frames 802 a and802 b may be read into line buffers 1010 a and 1010 b, respectively, andimage frame 802 b (e.g., the previous image frame) may be stored in aframe buffer 1020 before being read into line buffer 1010 b. In oneembodiment, line buffers 1010 a-b and frame buffer 1020 may beimplemented by a block of random access memory (RAM) provided by anyappropriate component of infrared imaging module 100 and/or host device102.

Referring again to FIG. 8, image frame 802 e may be passed to anautomatic gain compensation block 828 for further processing to providea result image frame 830 that may be used by host device 102 as desired.

FIG. 8 further illustrates various operations that may be performed todetermine row and column FPN terms and NUC terms as discussed. In oneembodiment, these operations may use image frames 802 e as shown in FIG.8. Because image frames 802 e have already been temporally filtered, atleast some temporal noise may be removed and thus will not inadvertentlyaffect the determination of row and column FPN terms 824 and 820 and NUCterms 817. In another embodiment, non-temporally filtered image frames802 may be used.

In FIG. 8, blocks 510, 515, and 520 of FIG. 5 are collectivelyrepresented together. As discussed, a NUC process may be selectivelyinitiated and performed in response to various NUC process initiatingevents and based on various criteria or conditions. As also discussed,the NUC process may be performed in accordance with a motion-basedapproach (blocks 525, 535, and 540) or a defocus-based approach (block530) to provide a blurred image frame (block 545). FIG. 8 furtherillustrates various additional blocks 550, 552, 555, 560, 565, 570, 571,572, 573, and 575 previously discussed with regard to FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 8, row and column FPN terms 824 and 820 and NUC terms817 may be determined and applied in an iterative fashion such thatupdated terms are determined using image frames 802 to which previousterms have already been applied. As a result, the overall process ofFIG. 8 may repeatedly update and apply such terms to continuously reducethe noise in image frames 830 to be used by host device 102.

Referring again to FIG. 10, further implementation details areillustrated for various blocks of FIGS. 5 and 8 in relation to pipeline800. For example, blocks 525, 535, and 540 are shown as operating at thenormal frame rate of image frames 802 received by pipeline 800. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 10, the determination made in block 525 isrepresented as a decision diamond used to determine whether a givenimage frame 802 has sufficiently changed such that it may be consideredan image frame that will enhance the blur if added to other image framesand is therefore accumulated (block 535 is represented by an arrow inthis embodiment) and averaged (block 540).

Also in FIG. 10, the determination of column FPN terms 820 (block 550)is shown as operating at an update rate that in this example is 1/32 ofthe sensor frame rate (e.g., normal frame rate) due to the averagingperformed in block 540. Other update rates may be used in otherembodiments. Although only column FPN terms 820 are identified in FIG.10, row FPN terms 824 may be implemented in a similar fashion at thereduced frame rate.

FIG. 10 also illustrates further implementation details in relation tothe NUC determination process of block 570. In this regard, the blurredimage frame may be read to a line buffer 1030 (e.g., implemented by ablock of RAM provided by any appropriate component of infrared imagingmodule 100 and/or host device 102). The flat field correction technique700 of FIG. 7 may be performed on the blurred image frame.

In view of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated thattechniques described herein may be used to remove various types of FPN(e.g., including very high amplitude FPN) such as spatially correlatedrow and column FPN and spatially uncorrelated FPN.

Other embodiments are also contemplated. For example, in one embodiment,the rate at which row and column FPN terms and/or NUC terms are updatedcan be inversely proportional to the estimated amount of blur in theblurred image frame and/or inversely proportional to the magnitude oflocal contrast values (e.g., determined in block 560).

In various embodiments, the described techniques may provide advantagesover conventional shutter-based noise correction techniques. Forexample, by using a shutterless process, a shutter (e.g., such asshutter 105) need not be provided, thus permitting reductions in size,weight, cost, and mechanical complexity. Power and maximum voltagesupplied to, or generated by, infrared imaging module 100 may also bereduced if a shutter does not need to be mechanically operated.Reliability will be improved by removing the shutter as a potentialpoint of failure. A shutterless process also eliminates potential imageinterruption caused by the temporary blockage of the imaged scene by ashutter.

Also, by correcting for noise using intentionally blurred image framescaptured from a real world scene (not a uniform scene provided by ashutter), noise correction may be performed on image frames that haveirradiance levels similar to those of the actual scene desired to beimaged. This can improve the accuracy and effectiveness of noisecorrection terms determined in accordance with the various describedtechniques.

As discussed, in various embodiments, infrared imaging module 100 may beconfigured to operate at low voltage levels. In particular, infraredimaging module 100 may be implemented with circuitry configured tooperate at low power and/or in accordance with other parameters thatpermit infrared imaging module 100 to be conveniently and effectivelyimplemented in various types of host devices 102, such as mobile devicesand other devices.

For example, FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of anotherimplementation of infrared sensor assembly 128 including infraredsensors 132 and a low-dropout regulator (LDO) 1220 in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure. As shown, FIG. 12 also illustrates variouscomponents 1202, 1204, 1205, 1206, 1208, and 1210 which may implementedin the same or similar manner as corresponding components previouslydescribed with regard to FIG. 4. FIG. 12 also illustrates biascorrection circuitry 1212 which may be used to adjust one or more biasvoltages provided to infrared sensors 132 (e.g., to compensate fortemperature changes, self-heating, and/or other factors).

In some embodiments, LDO 1220 may be provided as part of infrared sensorassembly 128 (e.g., on the same chip and/or wafer level package as theROIC). For example, LDO 1220 may be provided as part of an FPA withinfrared sensor assembly 128. As discussed, such implementations mayreduce power supply noise introduced to infrared sensor assembly 128 andthus provide an improved power supply rejection ratio (PSRR). Inaddition, by implementing the LDO with the ROIC, less die area may beconsumed and fewer discrete die (or chips) are needed.

LDO 1220 receives an input voltage provided by a power source 1230 overa supply line 1232. LDO 1220 provides an output voltage to variouscomponents of infrared sensor assembly 128 over supply lines 1222. Inthis regard, LDO 1220 may provide substantially identical regulatedoutput voltages to various components of infrared sensor assembly 128 inresponse to a single input voltage received from power source 1230, inaccordance with various techniques described in, for example, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/101,245 filed Dec. 9, 2013 incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

For example, in some embodiments, power source 1230 may provide an inputvoltage in a range of approximately 2.8 volts to approximately 11 volts(e.g., approximately 2.8 volts in one embodiment), and LDO 1220 mayprovide an output voltage in a range of approximately 1.5 volts toapproximately 2.8 volts (e.g., approximately 2.8, 2.5, 2.4, and/or lowervoltages in various embodiments). In this regard, LDO 1220 may be usedto provide a consistent regulated output voltage, regardless of whetherpower source 1230 is implemented with a conventional voltage range ofapproximately 9 volts to approximately 11 volts, or a low voltage suchas approximately 2.8 volts. Thus, although various voltage ranges areprovided for the input and output voltages, it is contemplated that theoutput voltage of LDO 1220 will remain fixed despite changes in theinput voltage.

The implementation of LDO 1220 as part of infrared sensor assembly 128provides various advantages over conventional power implementations forFPAs. For example, conventional FPAs typically rely on multiple powersources, each of which may be provided separately to the FPA, andseparately distributed to the various components of the FPA. Byregulating a single power source 1230 by LDO 1220, appropriate voltagesmay be separately provided (e.g., to reduce possible noise) to allcomponents of infrared sensor assembly 128 with reduced complexity. Theuse of LDO 1220 also allows infrared sensor assembly 128 to operate in aconsistent manner, even if the input voltage from power source 1230changes (e.g., if the input voltage increases or decreases as a resultof charging or discharging a battery or other type of device used forpower source 1230).

The various components of infrared sensor assembly 128 shown in FIG. 12may also be implemented to operate at lower voltages than conventionaldevices. For example, as discussed, LDO 1220 may be implemented toprovide a low voltage (e.g., approximately 2.5 volts). This contrastswith the multiple higher voltages typically used to power conventionalFPAs, such as: approximately 3.3 volts to approximately 5 volts used topower digital circuitry; approximately 3.3 volts used to power analogcircuitry; and approximately 9 volts to approximately 11 volts used topower loads. Also, in some embodiments, the use of LDO 1220 may reduceor eliminate the need for a separate negative reference voltage to beprovided to infrared sensor assembly 128.

Additional aspects of the low voltage operation of infrared sensorassembly 128 may be further understood with reference to FIG. 13. FIG.13 illustrates a circuit diagram of a portion of infrared sensorassembly 128 of FIG. 12 in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. In particular, FIG. 13 illustrates additional components ofbias correction circuitry 1212 (e.g., components 1326, 1330, 1332, 1334,1336, 1338, and 1341) connected to LDO 1220 and infrared sensors 132.For example, bias correction circuitry 1212 may be used to compensatefor temperature-dependent changes in bias voltages in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The operation of such additionalcomponents may be further understood with reference to similarcomponents identified in U.S. Pat. No. 7,679,048, issued Mar. 16, 2010,which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Infraredsensor assembly 128 may also be implemented in accordance with thevarious components identified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,812,465, issued Nov. 2,2004, which is also hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In various embodiments, some or all of the bias correction circuitry1212 may be implemented on a global array basis as shown in FIG. 13(e.g., used for all infrared sensors 132 collectively in an array). Inother embodiments, some or all of the bias correction circuitry 1212 maybe implemented on an individual sensor basis (e.g., entirely orpartially duplicated for each infrared sensor 132). In some embodiments,bias correction circuitry 1212 and other components of FIG. 13 may beimplemented as part of ROIC 1202.

As shown in FIG. 13, LDO 1220 provides a load voltage Vload to biascorrection circuitry 1212 along one of supply lines 1222. As discussed,in some embodiments, Vload may be approximately 2.5 volts, whichcontrasts with larger voltages of approximately 9 volts to approximately11 volts that may be used as load voltages in conventional infraredimaging devices.

Based on Vload, bias correction circuitry 1212 provides a sensor biasvoltage Vbolo at a node 1360. Vbolo may be distributed to one or moreinfrared sensors 132 through appropriate switching circuitry 1370 (e.g.,represented by broken lines in FIG. 13). In some examples, switchingcircuitry 1370 may be implemented in accordance with appropriatecomponents identified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,812,465 and 7,679,048previously referenced herein.

Each infrared sensor 132 includes a node 1350 which receives Vbolothrough switching circuitry 1370, and another node 1352 which may beconnected to ground, a substrate, and/or a negative reference voltage.In some embodiments, the voltage at node 1360 may be substantially thesame as Vbolo provided at nodes 1350. In other embodiments, the voltageat node 1360 may be adjusted to compensate for possible voltage dropsassociated with switching circuitry 1370 and/or other factors.

Vbolo may be implemented with lower voltages than are typically used forconventional infrared sensor biasing. In one embodiment, Vbolo may be ina range of approximately 0.2 volts to approximately 0.7 volts. Inanother embodiment, Vbolo may be in a range of approximately 0.4 voltsto approximately 0.6 volts. In another embodiment, Vbolo may beapproximately 0.5 volts. In contrast, conventional infrared sensorstypically use bias voltages of approximately 1 volt.

The use of a lower bias voltage for infrared sensors 132 in accordancewith the present disclosure permits infrared sensor assembly 128 toexhibit significantly reduced power consumption in comparison withconventional infrared imaging devices. In particular, the powerconsumption of each infrared sensor 132 is reduced by the square of thebias voltage. As a result, a reduction from, for example, 1.0 volt to0.5 volts provides a significant reduction in power, especially whenapplied to many infrared sensors 132 in an infrared sensor array. Thisreduction in power may also result in reduced self-heating of infraredsensor assembly 128.

In accordance with additional embodiments of the present disclosure,various techniques are provided for reducing the effects of noise inimage frames provided by infrared imaging devices operating at lowvoltages. In this regard, when infrared sensor assembly 128 is operatedwith low voltages as described, noise, self-heating, and/or otherphenomena may, if uncorrected, become more pronounced in image framesprovided by infrared sensor assembly 128.

For example, referring to FIG. 13, when LDO 1220 maintains Vload at alow voltage in the manner described herein, Vbolo will also bemaintained at its corresponding low voltage and the relative size of itsoutput signals may be reduced. As a result, noise, self-heating, and/orother phenomena may have a greater effect on the smaller output signalsread out from infrared sensors 132, resulting in variations (e.g.,errors) in the output signals. If uncorrected, these variations may beexhibited as noise in the image frames. Moreover, although low voltageoperation may reduce the overall amount of certain phenomena (e.g.,self-heating), the smaller output signals may permit the remaining errorsources (e.g., residual self-heating) to have a disproportionate effecton the output signals during low voltage operation.

To compensate for such phenomena, infrared sensor assembly 128, infraredimaging module 100, and/or host device 102 may be implemented withvarious array sizes, frame rates, and/or frame averaging techniques. Forexample, as discussed above, a variety of different array sizes arecontemplated for infrared sensors 132. In some embodiments, infraredsensors 132 may be implemented with array sizes ranging from 32 by 32 to160 by 120 infrared sensors 132. Other example array sizes include 80 by64, 80 by 60, 64 by 64, and 64 by 32. Any desired array size may beused.

Advantageously, when implemented with such relatively small array sizes,infrared sensor assembly 128 may provide image frames at relatively highframe rates without requiring significant changes to ROIC and relatedcircuitry. For example, in some embodiments, frame rates may range fromapproximately 120 Hz to approximately 480 Hz.

In some embodiments, the array size and the frame rate may be scaledrelative to each other (e.g., in an inversely proportional manner orotherwise) such that larger arrays are implemented with lower framerates, and smaller arrays are implemented with higher frame rates. Forexample, in one embodiment, an array of 160 by 120 may provide a framerate of approximately 120 Hz. In another embodiment, an array of 80 by60 may provide a correspondingly higher frame rate of approximately 240Hz. Other array sizes and frame rates are also contemplated.

By scaling the array size and the frame rate relative to each other, theparticular readout timing of rows and/or columns of the FPA may remainconsistent, regardless of the actual FPA size or frame rate. In oneembodiment, the readout timing may be approximately 63 microseconds perrow or column.

As previously discussed with regard to FIG. 8, the image frames capturedby infrared sensors 132 may be provided to a frame averager 804 thatintegrates multiple image frames to provide image frames 802 (e.g.,processed image frames) with a lower frame rate (e.g., approximately 30Hz, approximately 60 Hz, or other frame rates) and with an improvedsignal to noise ratio. In particular, by averaging the high frame rateimage frames provided by a relatively small FPA, image noiseattributable to low voltage operation may be effectively averaged outand/or substantially reduced in image frames 802. Accordingly, infraredsensor assembly 128 may be operated at relatively low voltages providedby LDO 1220 as discussed without experiencing additional noise andrelated side effects in the resulting image frames 802 after processingby frame averager 804.

Other embodiments are also contemplated. For example, although a singlearray of infrared sensors 132 is illustrated, it is contemplated thatmultiple such arrays may be used together to provide higher resolutionimage frames (e.g., a scene may be imaged across multiple such arrays).Such arrays may be provided in multiple infrared sensor assemblies 128and/or provided in the same infrared sensor assembly 128. Each sucharray may be operated at low voltages as described, and may also beprovided with associated ROIC circuitry such that each array may stillbe operated at a relatively high frame rate. The high frame rate imageframes provided by such arrays may be averaged by shared or dedicatedframe averagers 804 to reduce and/or eliminate noise associated with lowvoltage operation. As a result, high resolution infrared images may beobtained while still operating at low voltages.

In various embodiments, infrared sensor assembly 128 may be implementedwith appropriate dimensions to permit infrared imaging module 100 to beused with a small form factor socket 104, such as a socket used formobile devices. For example, in some embodiments, infrared sensorassembly 128 may be implemented with a chip size in a range ofapproximately 4.0 mm by approximately 4.0 mm to approximately 5.5 mm byapproximately 5.5 mm (e.g., approximately 4.0 mm by approximately 5.5 mmin one example). Infrared sensor assembly 128 may be implemented withsuch sizes or other appropriate sizes to permit use with socket 104implemented with various sizes such as: 8.5 mm by 8.5 mm, 8.5 mm by 5.9mm, 6.0 mm by 6.0 mm, 5.5 mm by 5.5 mm, 4.5 mm by 4.5 mm, and/or othersocket sizes such as, for example, those identified in Table 1 of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,873 filed Jun. 10, 2011incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

As discussed above, a source of undesirable fixed pattern noise (FPN) inIR FPA sensor modules relates to changes in FPA substrate temperature,due to device self-heating and/or changes in the environment.Accordingly, substantial design effort goes into calibrating out theaverage change in substrate temperature that can occur during normaloperation. Compensation for the average change in a substratetemperature can be effected by compensating each pixel's output as afunction of an average FPA temperature. However, in many cases, heatingof the FPA substrate during sensor operation is not uniform. Thisnon-uniformity in heating cannot be compensated for by using of a singletemperature sensor, with the result that additional FPN can occur in theimage that is not compensated for.

As also discussed above, a shutter can be used in an IR sensor module tocompensate for FPN. However, this technique is not available inshutterless devices. And, while some scene-based non-uniformitycompensation (SBNUC) methods, including the NUC methods described indetail above, do a satisfactory job of removing high spatial frequencynon-uniformity, they do not work well in cases of low spatial frequencynon-uniformity, as can occur if the temperature gradient changes in thesubstrate of the sensor module's IR sensor assembly with time. This isbecause, in many practical cases, heating of the FPA substrate duringoperation is not uniform.

However, through research and development, it has been discovered that,by placing a “heat spreader,” i.e., a thin, generally planar sheet of amaterial having a relatively high thermal conductivity between thesubstrate of the IR sensor assembly and the base of an IR sensor module,both substrate temperature gradients and their evolution over timeduring operation of the device can be greatly minimized.

Further, beyond high thermal conductivity, as might be found in a metalsuch as copper, with thermal conductivity of about 400 Watts/meterdegrees Kelvin (W/m·° K), or gold, with a thermal conductivity of about318 W/m·° K, an ideal material should also exhibit an “anisotropic”thermal conductivity. Specifically, the thermal conductivity in theplane of the material should be high, whereas, the thermal conductivityperpendicular to the plane of the material should be orders of magnitudelower. This arrangement enables thermal gradients originating within thesubstrate of the IR sensor assembly due to non-uniform power dissipationto be greatly minimized or eliminated altogether, while also “smoothingout” thermal gradients in the assembly originating from outsideinfluences, e.g., from other power-dissipating components of the hostdevice, or from external changes in the local environment, such as mightbe experienced if the sensor module were installed in a portableelectronic device that has variable power dissipation around the moduleas a function of specific parts of the device becoming active, forexample, an internal GPS, an image signal processor, a power supply ICor a visible camera module.

There exists various forms of graphite that are good candidates foranisotropic thermal conductors. For example, GrafTech International Ltd.(Parma, Ohio) sources a number graphite products, including sheetmaterials, that exhibit highly anisotropic heat conduction. Thus, forexample, a heat spreader comprising a thin sheet of graphite, e.g., 100microns (μm) thick, can have an in-plane thermal conductivity as high asbetween about 800 and 1600 W/m·° K, and a thermal conductivity in adirection perpendicular to the thickness of the sheet of only betweenabout 6 and 10 W/m·° K.

An additional benefit that can be derived by the use of a heat spreadercomprising graphite (as opposed to, e.g., copper) as an interfacematerial between an IR sensor assembly and module is the reduction inheight effected in a miniature camera or other, similar device. Thus,the specific thermal conductivity properties of the example graphitesheet heat spreader described above enable a 100 um thick sheet ofgraphite to function more effectively than a 500 um thick sheet ofcopper. This benefit has been confirmed by both thermal modeling and bydirect measurement of prototype assemblies, as described in more detailbelow. Thus, the reduction in height of an IR sensor module of 400 umcan be a significant factor that can facilitate the integration of IRsensor modules into cameras and other devices that are gettingprogressively thinner.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional elevation view of an example embodiment ofan IR imaging module 100 in which a thermal spreader 1400 is disposedbetween a substrate 140 of the imaging assembly 128 and a base 150 ofthe imaging module 100 in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 14, the IR imaging module 100 caninclude many of the same elements of the example IR imaging modules 100discussed above in connection with FIG. 3, such as an IR sensor assembly128, which can include a substrate 140, microbolometer array 132disposed on an upper surface of the substrate 140, and a cap 130disposed on the upper surface of the substrate and hermeticallyenclosing the microbolometer array 132.

A base 150, which in some embodiments, can be a multi-layer structurecontaining conductive circuit trace layers and implemented at least inpart using ceramic materials, is disposed immediately below thesubstrate 140, and in accordance with this example embodiment, a heatspreader 1400 having at least a sheet-like, generally planar portion isinterposed between a lower surface of the substrate 140 and an uppersurface of the base 150.

As discussed above, in some advantageous embodiments, the generallyplanar portion of the heat spreader 1400 can desirably have ananisotropic thermal conductivity, in which the in-plane thermalconductivity is substantially, i.e., orders of magnitude, greater thanthe thermal conductivity in a direction perpendicular to the generallyplanar portion. For example, in some embodiments, the generally planarportion of the heat spreader, i.e., the portion disposed between thelower surface of the substrate 140 and the upper surface of the base150, can have an in-plane thermal conductivity of from about 600 W/m·° Kto about 1600 W/m·° K, and a thermal conductivity of from about 6 W/m·°K to about 10 W/m·° K in a direction perpendicular to the generallyplanar portion. As discussed above, the foregoing properties can beobtained in some embodiments using a heat spreader 1400 comprisinggraphite.

The efficacy of using an anisotropic heat spreader 1400 arrangement ofthe type described above has been assessed by accurate thermalsimulations of IR imaging modules 100. In these simulations, an accuratethermal model of the sensor module 100 was constructed to include anASIC processing module 160 electrically coupled to a lower surface ofthe base 150 using a BGA arrangement 152, as illustrated in FIG. 14. Theprocessing module 160, which is expected to use about 150 milliwatts(mW) of electrical power, was modeled as a source of self heating of thesensor module 100. Data was obtained for simulation nodes correspondingto an area 1402 located immediately below the substrate 140 of the IRsensor assembly, and the simulations modeled transient heating of IRimaging module 100 from an initial “OFF” condition to a steady-statetemperature condition reached after some duration of IR imaging module100 being operational (e.g., for about 5,000 seconds real-world time).The prototype module 100 was assessed with and without two embodimentsof heat spreaders 1400, namely, a 100 μm thick graphite heat spreaderand a 533 μm thick copper heat spreader.

Referring briefly to FIG. 19, a perspective view of another exampleembodiment of an IR imaging module 100 is shown in which a thermalspreader 1400 may be disposed between a substrate 140 and a base 170, inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. In the illustratedembodiment, the base 170 may include a rigid-flexible printed circuit(RFPC) board that extends past a housing 120 to one side, with aprocessing module 160 disposed on a top surface of the base 170 andexternal to the housing 120. Because the heat from the processing module160 may flow from one side of the imaging assembly 128 in thisembodiment of the IR imaging module 100, the imaging assembly 128 may besubject to non-uniform heating, and thus may result in a larger thermalgradient compared to the embodiment of FIG. 14. Nevertheless, in directtesting, the anisotropic thermal spreader 1400 has shown to be effectiveeven for the IR imaging module 100 of FIG. 19.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the area 1402 located between the lowersurface of the substrate 140 of the IR sensor assembly 128 of sensormodule 100 of FIG. 14 and the upper surface of the base 150 thereof,showing the respective locations of the temperature test sensors J1, J2. . . JN, and H1, H2 . . . HN, used for measuring temperature gradientsin the substrate 100. As indicated in FIG. 15, there are generally tworegions within this area that are of some interest, namely, 1) the area1402 corresponding to the entire lower surface of the substrate 140, andof particular importance, 2) a smaller area 1402 disposed immediatelybelow the microbolometer sensor array 132, within which it is desirableto minimize temperature gradients, as discussed above.

FIG. 16A is a graph of the respective temperatures, in degrees Kelvin (°K), of the points J3-J7 in the area 1404 immediately underlying thesenor array 132 at different times during a relatively short initialperiod of operation, viz., 5 seconds, of the IR sensor module 100,without using a heat spreader between the substrate 140 and the base150. FIG. 16B is a graph of the respective temperatures at those samepoints at different times during an extended period, viz., 5000 seconds,of operation of the sensor module without a heat spreader.

As can be seen in FIG. 16A, between 0 and 6 seconds of operation, thereis a temperature gradient of about 10⁻³° K (mK) between the center pointJ5 of the area 1404 and points J3 or J7, located at opposite corners ofthe area 1404, and as can be seen in FIG. 16B, this temperature gradientchanges about 3.5 mK in the period of from about 3 seconds to about 1minute of module operation.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are graphs similar to FIGS. 16A and 16B, respectively,except that in the case of FIGS. 17A and 17B, a 533 μm thick copper heatspreader 1400 was interposed between the lower surface of the substrate140 of the sensor assembly 128 and the upper surface of the base 150. Ascan be seen in FIGS. 17A and 17B, the thermal gradient in the substrate140 at any point in time of operation of the sensor module 100 wasreduced by a factor of about 3 as a result of the provision of thecopper heat spreader 1400, compared to the case of FIGS. 16A and 16Babove, where no heat spreader 1400 was used. Additionally, thetemperature gradient change in the period of from about 3 seconds toabout 1 minute of operation was about 1 mK versus the about 3.5 mKchange in the case above wherein no heat spreader was present.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are graphs similar to those of FIGS. 17A and 17B,respectively, except that in the case of FIGS. 18A and 18B, a 100 μmthick graphite heat spreader 1400 was interposed between the lowersurface of the substrate 140 of the sensor assembly 128 and the uppersurface of the base 150. Additionally, a second ASIC (not illustrated inFIG. 14), dissipating about 20 mW, was added to the lower surface of thebase 150 in a location corresponding to a corner of the area 1402 ofFIG. 15 to simulate the effects of “hot spots” on the temperature in thearea 1404 of the sensor array 132.

As can be seen in FIGS. 18A and 18B, although the temperature gradientin the substrate is “skewed” toward the location of the added ASIC, andalthough the thickness of the graphite heat spreader 1400 was only about25% of that of the copper heat spreader 1400, the graphite heat spreader1400 performed better than the copper heat spreader 1400 at reducing thetemperature gradients in the substrate 140 at any point in time ofoperation of the sensor module 100.

In light of the foregoing assessments, it can be concluded thatinterposing a heat spreader 1400, and in particular, a graphite heatspreader 1400, between the lower surface of the substrate 140 of thesensor assembly 128 of a sensor module 100 and the upper surface of thebase 150 thereof can reduce the effects of thermal transients on thesensor's output by a factor of three or more, and additionally, cansignificantly reduce thermal gradients due to module self heating.

Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the present disclosurecan be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations of hardwareand software. Also where applicable, the various hardware componentsand/or software components set forth herein can be combined intocomposite components comprising software, hardware, and/or both withoutdeparting from the spirit of the present disclosure. Where applicable,the various hardware components and/or software components set forthherein can be separated into sub-components comprising software,hardware, or both without departing from the spirit of the presentdisclosure. In addition, where applicable, it is contemplated thatsoftware components can be implemented as hardware components, andvice-versa.

Software in accordance with the present disclosure, such asnon-transitory instructions, program code, and/or data, can be stored onone or more non-transitory machine readable mediums. It is alsocontemplated that software identified herein can be implemented usingone or more general purpose or specific purpose computers and/orcomputer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Where applicable, theordering of various steps described herein can be changed, combined intocomposite steps, and/or separated into sub-steps to provide featuresdescribed herein.

Embodiments described above illustrate but do not limit the invention.It should also be understood that numerous modifications and variationsare possible in accordance with the principles of the invention.Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined only by the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An infrared (IR) sensor module, comprising: an IRsensor assembly, including: a substrate; a microbolometer array disposedon an upper surface of the substrate; and a cap disposed on the uppersurface of the substrate and hermetically enclosing the microbolometerarray; a base disposed below the substrate; and a heat spreader having agenerally planar portion interposed between a lower surface of thesubstrate and an upper surface of the base.
 2. The IR sensor module ofclaim 1, wherein the generally planar portion of the heat spreader hasan anisotropic thermal conductivity.
 3. The IR sensor module of claim 1,wherein the generally planar portion of the heat spreader has anin-plane thermal conductivity that is greater than a thermalconductivity in a direction perpendicular to the generally planarportion.
 4. The IR sensor module of claim 1, wherein the generallyplanar portion of the heat spreader has an in-plane thermal conductivityof from about 600 W/m·° K to about 1600 W/m·° K.
 5. The IR sensor moduleof claim 1, wherein the generally planar portion of the heat spreaderhas a thermal conductivity of from about 6 W/m·° K to about 10 W/m·° Kin a direction perpendicular to the generally planar portion.
 6. The IRsensor module of claim 1, wherein the generally planar portion of theheat spreader comprises graphite.
 7. The IR sensor module of claim 1,wherein the generally planar portion of the heat spreader comprisescopper.
 8. The IR sensor module of claim 1, further comprising a readoutintegrated circuit (ROIC) disposed on the upper surface of the substrateand electrically interconnected with the microbolometer array.
 9. The IRsensor module of claim 1, wherein the base comprises a ceramic material.10. The IR sensor module of claim 1, wherein the base comprises arigid-flexible printed circuit (RFPC) board.
 11. The IR sensor module ofclaim 10, further comprising: a housing disposed on an upper surface ofthe RFPC board and enclosing the IR sensor assembly; and a processingmodule disposed on an upper surface of the RFPC board and external tothe housing.
 12. The IR sensor module of claim 1, further comprising aprocessing module electrically coupled to a lower surface of the base.13. The IR sensor module of claim 1, further comprising a housingdisposed on an upper surface of the base and enclosing the IR sensorassembly.
 14. The IR sensor module of claim 13, further comprising alens barrel disposed in an aperture in a surface of the housing.
 15. TheIR sensor module of claim 14, wherein the cap of the IR sensor assemblyis transparent to IR radiation, and the lens barrel further includes anoptical element disposed in the lens barrel and arranged such that IRradiation entering through an aperture in the lens barrel passes throughthe optical element and an upper surface of the cap and is incident uponthe microbolometer array.
 16. An IR imaging device incorporating the IRsensor module of claim 1 in such a way that the microbolometer array isdisposed at a focal plane of the IR imaging device.
 17. The IR imagingdevice of claim 16, wherein the microbolometers are adapted to receive abias voltage selected from a range of approximately 0.2 volts toapproximately 0.7 volts, the IR imaging device further comprising one ormore of: a socket for receiving the IR sensor module in a plug-inengagement; a shutter; a processor adapted to determine a plurality ofnon-uniform correction (NUC) terms based on an intentionally blurredthermal image and apply the NUC terms to an unblurred thermal image toremove noise from the unblurred thermal image; a memory; a display;and/or motion sensors.
 18. The IR imaging device of claim 17, whereinthe imaging device comprises: a mobile telephone; a tablet computingdevice; a laptop computing device; and/or a personal digital assistant.19. A method for making an infrared (IR) sensor module, the methodcomprising: providing substrate having an array of microbolometerdisposed on an upper surface thereof; disposing a cap on the uppersurface of the substrate such that the microbolometer array ishermetically enclosed between the cap and the upper surface of thesubstrate; disposing a lower surface of the substrate on an uppersurface of a base; and interposing a heat spreader between the lowersurface of the substrate and the upper surface of the base.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the heat spreader comprises graphite, andwherein the heat spreader is coupled to the substrate such thattemperature gradients and their evolution over time during operation ofthe IR sensor module are less than temperature gradients and theirevolution over time in the substrate during operation of the IR sensormodule without the heat spreader.
 21. A method for reducing fixedpattern noise (FPN) in an infrared (IR) sensor module during itsoperation, the method comprising: providing a generally planar heatspreader having an in-plane thermal conductivity that is greater than athermal conductivity of the heat spreader in a direction perpendicularthereto; and interposing the heat spreader between a lower surface of asubstrate of the sensor module and an upper surface of a base of thesensor module.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein: the in-plane thermalconductivity of the heat spreader is between about 600 W/m·° K and about1600 W/m·° K; and the thermal conductivity of the heat spreader in adirection perpendicular thereto is between about 6 W/m·° K and about 10W/m·° K.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the heat spreader comprisesgraphite.